THE CONIFERS 



713 



AUSTRIAN AND CLUSTER PINE BUDS. 



ornamentation that gi\'es to these cones 

 a distinctive appearance. The fruit is 

 ripe in late autumn, when the scales gape 

 free the seeds. The empty 

 later. 



open, settmg 



cones 



fall 



THE PINES 



The shape of a Pine early in 

 pyramidal, but later this sym- 

 metry is generally broken. The 

 leaves are long and narrow, 

 aptly characterised as needles. 

 They are not soHtary, but grow in 

 bundles of two, three, or five, which 

 are confined at the base in a sheath. 

 A Pine cone, after forming, ceases 

 to grow throughout the first year. 

 It starts into growth the following 

 spring, generally maturing by the 

 next autumn. The small lump, or 

 boss, is always present on the ex- 

 posed part of each cone-scale. The 

 cones are pendent, and they re- 

 lease their seeds by opening their 

 scales. 



The Scots Pine. This is our one 

 native Pine. The mature habit of 

 this tree is to cast off its lower 

 branches, sustaining, on tall stem, 

 a rounded or flattened crown. The 

 bark near the base thickens, ex- 

 hibiting a series of dark, flattened 

 plates, separated by fissures ; but 

 higher up, where the thin scales 

 peel off, the general surface is of 

 a bright coppery colour. Tlic 

 needles, two in a bundle, united at 

 the base in a brown sheath, are 

 bluish green. Their length is about 

 two inches. The cones, which are 

 about two inches long, and taper 



life is 



quickly, grow sometimes three together, 

 but generally in pairs, side by side, witli 

 their central axes parallel. The exposed 

 part of the cone-scale is four-sided, and 

 is raised to a point in the centre. Its 

 surface is not polished. 



The Corsican Pine, and its Austrian 

 variety, may best be distinguished from the 

 Scots Pine by the following : The bark 

 is fissured and uniformly thick and dark, 

 from the base to the simimit. The bud is 

 cone-shaped, with a long-drawn-out point, 

 silvery, and thickly covered with resin. 

 The needles, two in a bundle, and sheathed 

 at the base, are rather longer and of a 

 darker green. The cones also are larger, 

 and as the\^ grow in pairs their atti- 

 tude is different. They are attached 

 base to base, with their central axes in 

 a line, or nearly so. They ha\'e a 

 polished surface. 



The Cluster Pine. The bark is dark, 

 coarse, and deeply furrowed. The liuds, 



CONKS OF CONIFERS. 



spruce 2. Larch. 3, Weymouth Pine. 4. DoucLis Fir. 

 Scots Pine first year and full trown. 7, Cedar. 

 Austrian Pine first year and full Krown. 



S and 6. 

 8 and 9. 



